Wear plates for high wear applications may commonly be manufactured by two methods and may form distinct types of wear plates, including: monolithic steel plates and weld overlay steel plates. While, wear plate sizes may depend somewhat on the manufacturing technique and specific application, they may generally be formed in the range of 0.1875″ (4.8 mm) to 2.0″ (50.8 mm) in thickness with widths from 48″ to 96″ and lengths from 120″ to 288″. Wear plates may also be provided in flat sheet form or may be cut, drilled and bent into shapes to match a preexisting part or application. Often wear plates may be custom fit and tack welded onto the substrate of a machine or other device to act as a sacrificial wear part that may be replaced as needed.
Monolithic steel plates may be analogous to conventional steel sheet, having similar production methods. Traditionally, the monolithic steel plates may be produced through continuous casting processes followed by several stages of hot or cold rolling to achieve the targeted thickness. Often complex multi-step heat treatments may be necessary to achieve the targeted properties, which may involve quenching, tempering, and aging steps. Monolithic steel plates may be manufactured by a number of companies such as Brinell or Hardox in various grades achieving hardness from Rc 35 to 55, including all values and increments therein. Wear plates of this class may generally be used in high volume applications, where exposure to impact may be low, or in cost sensitive applications, where cost may be a main selection driver.
Weld overlay wear plates may be made by applying a continuous weld overlay onto a pre-existing steel substrate. Several variations of weld overlay application techniques are commercially available, including gas metal arc-welding (GMAW), open arc welding (i.e. no cover gas), plasma transferred arc-welding (PTAW), submerged arc-welding, and powder feed submerged arc welding using a solid electrode. The various processes may commonly use a variety of feedstock wires sized from 0.045″ (1.2 mm) to ⅛″ (3.2 mm) in diameter, including all values and increments therein, and feedstock powders ranging from 45 microns up to 300 microns in size, including all values and increments therein. Generally, the weld overlays may be applied in a single pass, double pass, or up to triple pass, weld overlay plates may be used for some high wear application. Typically, the weld overlay thickness may be as thick as the base metal. For example, a ⅜″ thick weld overlay may be applied to a ⅜″ thick base steel for a total plate thickness of ¾″. Typical base steels may include low carbon or low cost steel alloys such as A36 or 1018 steel, although in some cases, high end monolithic steel grades may be used. A number of manufacturers currently produce weld overlay wear plates including Hardware, Cronatron, and Castolin Eutectic, using a variety of materials including nickel base alloys with and without hardmetals such as tungsten carbide, chrome carbides, complex carbides, and WC containing nickel, cobalt, or steel alloys. Wear plates of this class may generally be utilized for severe wear environments, higher impact applications, or where cost is not a primary issue, as compared to machine downtime.